Sonnet 130

Question 1

Name two things to which the speaker compares his mistress

Answer 1

The mistress is compared to the sun and coral

Question 2

Outline two features of a Shakespearian sonnet that you can identify

Answer 2

A Shakespearian sonnet consists of: 14 lines, rhyme scheme abab cdcd efef gg, 3 quatrains, rhyming couplet

Question 3

How does the metaphor of music in stanza 3 impact your understanding of the poem

Answer 3

Shakespeare writes that although music is easier to listen to he does sincerely love to hear his mistress speak

Question 4

Explain what the speaker means when saying his mistress ‘treads on the ground’ ?

Answer 4

The speaker’s mistress is not a perfect goddess. She is a real person with real flaws eg. the way she walks is clumsy

Question 5

Discuss whether you think the speaker’s love is sincere

Answer 5

The love expressed is sincere and not false. Although the speaker seems unflattering, he maintains that his love for her is ‘rare’